If you are serious about pursuing a career in film, you'll need to know what higher education opportunities are available. Our College Corner is here to help! Film and Media have become immensely popular areas of study and there are literally hundreds of schools offering a diverse range of programming. This page offers an organized and expansive list of film schools so that you can make informed decisions about your future as a filmmaker. Take some time to check out each school and their unique approach to film and media education. Invite your parents and guidance counselors to review the material with you. This will help you feel confident that you're finding a fit that will recognize your talents and help you fulfill your dreams. The schools featured here are participating in our festival because they value your talent and effort. They want to give you the tools you need to succeed!

The Department of Film at Brooklyn College is the only undergraduate department in the United States to offer film degree programs that encompass a full range of study, including film production, documentary production, screenwriting, film studies, and industry studies. The Film Department is home to approximately 350 students from over 30 different countries. Together with their diverse backgrounds, many bring previous college degrees or a general interest in the arts to the study of film. Students seeking an undergraduate degree may earn a bachelor of arts (B.A.) in film, while students who wish to focus exclusively on filmmaking may pursue a certificate in film, a two-year program with separate tracks in production and screenwriting. Graduates of the Department of Film possess a thorough understanding of traditional filmmaking techniques as well as knowledge of new and emerging technologies that will shape the future of cinema.

About the film program:

California College of the Arts educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. Benefitting from its San Francisco Bay Area location, the college prepares students for lifelong creative work by cultivating innovation, community engagement, and social and environmental responsibility.

About the film program:

Champlain's degree in Filmmaking is specifically tailored to the next generation of filmmakers. If you are passionate about telling stories visually, this program will prepare you in best practices by providing you access to cutting-edge equipment and by developing your creative and technical skills. With our upside-down curriculum, you will take film classes beginning in your first semester and our curriculum is designed to support a semester of international study. Filmmaking majors may study abroad at our campus in Montreal, Canada, and take advantage of one of the many industry opportunities in the vibrant city.

Our career data highlights the success of our program: 92% of 2016 Filmmaking graduates are employed within six months months after graduating and 83% of them are in jobs related to their career goals.

Recognized as one of the top ten film schools in the world and ranked #7 by The Hollywood Reporter among American film schools, Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees in all facets of film and media arts. Our state-of-the-art facilities open to you 24/7, coupled with our award-winning faculty, many of who still work in the industry, inspire our hands-on, collaborative learning environment. As a student at Dodge College, you’ll connect with the industry via guest lectures, special events, career panels, resident filmmakers, and Chapman Filmed Entertainment, our in-house production company.

About the film program:

Columbia College Chicago has produced Oscar, Emmy and Spirit winners and thousands of respected professionals throughout the entertainment and information industries. We offer nearly 200 specialized undergraduate and graduate courses­­––the most diverse and comprehensive curriculum of any film school in America. As a film student, you’ll explore both the practice and theory of fundamental skills like inquiry, creativity, collaboration, experimentation and self-expression in preparation for the hands-on filmmaking emphasized in all our degree programs.

About the film program:

Columbia College Hollywood is the premier college for students who want a hands-on education in Film, Television and the Digital Arts. With a state-of-the-art facility, an accomplished faculty featuring Emmy and Academy Award nominees and winners, an abundance of employment partners, and a strong alumni and mentoring network, your opportunity is here. CCH is a place where you will see your talents grow and where your creative spirit is held in the highest esteem. This is where you will make your first professional connections, and perhaps most importantly, fine-tune your original voice – what’s unique about you – so you can enter the Real World triumphantly and confidently.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

Beginning in 2014/15, students interested in Film+Media can pursue studies in fiction, nonfiction, and experimental /emergent technologies. In this emphasis, the majority of class time will be spent in making a variety of media so students can graduate with a portfolio of work that includes pieces made individually as well as with a larger crew. Students focus on all aspects of preproduction, production, and post-production and graduate with a portfolio of work including pieces made individually and as a part of a larger crew.

With future-focused curriculum in modern facilities, courses are offered in video, film, and sound arts for a successful career in time-based media. Explore filmmaking, editing, videography, cinematic lighting, sound design, narrative, and non-narrative storytelling, documentary, and intermedia using a variety of exhibition formats.

But the question remains: How does a film school graduate earn a living? A good living?

And the answer is: Intensive, inclusive training and Free Lifetime Access to all production equipment, that's How!

Only Digital Film Academy combines intensive Conservatory media training and free lifetime access to production equipment and facilities to give DFA graduates and unbeatable edge when monetizing their skills by serving clients or monetizing their own media.

Imagine this: Free Lifetime Access to RED Cinema Cameras! How can you not monetize that?

Also our Tuition Cost is reasonable: Under 18,000 for the entire year and DFA has financial aid as well!

Stop by the Digital Film Academy booth for your DFA back pack and schedule a free class or reserve a spot in one of our Open House Events.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

The School of Communications at Elon University in North Carolina is home to a dynamic cinema program with engaging teachers, superb technology and outstanding facilities including a movie theatre. The school operates the Elon in Los Angeles program with both spring and summer programs. Students can earn either a BA or BFA in Cinema & Television Arts. Elon cinema students have won the audience award twice in the past three years in the national Sprite Films competition, and a recent graduate won the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Audience Award for drama. Elon is one of only 18 private universities in the nation with an accredited communications school. More at http://www.elon.edu/communications

About the film program:

The Film Program at Hofstra University encompasses both the production and critical study of cinema. Hofstra’s accomplished faculty and state-of-the-art facilities support students to:

4. steepen this artistic experience in the history and theory of cinema

Ethan De Seife, Assistant Professor of Radio, Television, Film at Hofstra University, talks about why you should study film at Hofstra.

Students acquire creative and critical training in film production alongside theoretical, analytical, historical, and aesthetic study of cinema. Hofstra’s Film Studies and Production curriculum introduces theories of how and why cinema makes its meanings, how cinema has been historically regarded across varying audiences and cultures, how specific stylistic structures carry their own history of use and meaning, and how film directors imagine and construct forms both new and familiar. By learning about canonical and contemporary films and theories, students cultivate their cinematic perceptions within the very realm of their artistry.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

The Media School at Indiana University combines the study of all areas of media, including film, journalism, public relations, advertising, game design and sports media, to offer three degrees with 10 distinct tracks of study. Students receive a broad education in mass media and then specialize in one area, such as film. They may supplement their studies in their chosen concentration with classes from other concentrations, allowing them to combine areas of interest and customize their degrees. Learn more at mediaschool.indiana.edu.

MICA's Film and Video majors flourish by living in a vibrant art-school community where they have the opportunity to explore installation, documentary, narrative, or experimental genres.

Students are required to take Video Art, Documentary, Screenwriting, and Narrative Production. In Video Art students study the history of fine artists working with video. The Documentary course covers the historical evolution of the form while students experiment with different production methods through their projects. The Screenwriting course is offered by the language, literature, and culture department with a focus on short, producible, dramatic screenplays. In the Narrative Production course, several of these screenplays are selected and produced. This course is co-taught by a cinematographer and a writer/director. This sequence of course work provides students with a breadth of experience in the medium. The department's advanced course work explores these areas further.

All students also take Film I and Sound I. Shooting film teaches students to see light, and becomes an aesthetic choice students have for further projects. Students report that the experience is invaluable and will forever affect how they light, compose, and capture both digital and HD footage. Sound I explores an array of ways of working with sound, including sound art, music, film and video soundtracks, radio journalism, and drama.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree in Filmmaking

Filmmaking students work with film and digital technologies in a variety of genres to pursue projects from beginning to end—from writing to casting to lighting and filming, to post-production and promotion...and beyond!

When not in the studio or working on location, students are immersed in the theory and traditions behind the craft so they become fluent in the language of film.

About the film program:

Study film at Muhlenberg College

The film studies program at Muhlenberg offers a rigorous,interdisciplinary experience that helps students understand both the technical and expressive components of the cinematic medium, and gain practical experience in film production within the framework of a liberal arts education. Students will be exposed to many different forms and genres of film, including classic Hollywood cinema, but also documentary, independent, andexperimental film along with the rich traditions of world cinema.

About the film program:

What makes our filmmaking programs and workshops unique?

Learning to be a filmmaker is not done "by the numbers."

It is done by immersion in the process and by knowing the "whys" that teach the "hows." At the Academy you will learn by doing from day one. It is done by hands-on experience, trial and error, feedback and correction, and questions and answers. Your teachers will demystify the craft of film production and challenge you to master the art of visual storytelling.

In the creation of our film school and curriculum, we worked with students and faculty from around the world. We adapted the best ideas and elements from the top university film schools and designed an alternative which provides a thorough grounding in filmmaking, and is also flexible in meeting the diverse needs of our students.

New York Film Academy Offers the Best Hands-On Filmmaking, Acting, Cinematography, Producing, Screenwriting & Documentary Programs. With Degrees, Accelerated Courses & Intensive Workshops. Schools in New York City, Los Angeles, and Around the World. http://www.nyfa.edu/

About the film program:

About the film program:

The Cinema Arts Department offers cutting-edge degree programs in Cinema Production, Screenwriting, and Animation & Visual Effects. As a hands-on, production-focused department, our students begin producing creative work starting day one. In our professional laboratory, students work with state-of-the-art equipment in a dynamic, collaborative educational environment. Our graduates are equipped with the tools and know-how needed to thrive in their chosen field.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

The Purchase Film program trains highly talented students to work in the film industry and influence the scope and style of film production. The only Film program in the nation to require 90+ credits in film productions and aesthetics, our graduates win Sundance, Academy, Emmy and Palme d’Or awards, forge new production studios (Chris Wedge’s Blue Sky, Possible Films, The Shooting Gallery), and are members of the DGA, WGA, editing and camera unions. With over 85% of our graduates working in film, video and related fields, the program has earned a reputation among artists and industry professionals for its emphasis on hands-on learning, its integration of history and aesthetics, its rigorous requirements, and within that, artistic freedom.

The program asks each student to graduate as writer/directors while developing proficiency in all other areas of production. In the first year they jump immediately into production, editing, cinematography, screenwriting, acting and film history courses. Sophomores take yearlong concentrations in documentary and narrative, while continuing through a structured sequence of technical production, writing and cinema studies classes. In the junior year, students choose a two-term specialization in one of three production areas (narrative, documentary, experimental), making a junior thesis film, and as seniors, produce a capstone film. Students write and direct their own films while crewing on their classmates’ - fostering confident, independent artists, capable of the intense teamwork needed in the film industry. Film majors learn to think and write critically in cinema studies courses specifically designed for filmmakers. This immersion in history and aesthetics provides Purchase Film’s great strength, its commitment to having theory inform practice.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM

From your first week at Quinnipiac and every semester thereafter, as either a BA or BFA major in the Film, Television and Media Arts program, you will be taking production courses.

We seek to foster the professional growth of artful storytellers and innovative content providers in an environment that combines theory and practice across all platforms for visual media production and distribution. Course work includes single and multi-camera television, audio, animation, interactive media and film production and post-production, script writing and Senior Projects.

The program demands that students become technically accomplished, aesthetically grounded and expressively mature. Production and theory work is twined with course work delivering a wider context for the ethical, social, economic and cultural forces that impact national and global media industries.

Course work on campus can be supplemented with a semester of study in the Quinnipiac in Los Angeles program, internship opportunities and field acquisition course work, in recent years undertaken in Ireland, France and South Africa.

Our Story

Relativity School is the first and only school of its kind created with a major Hollywood studio offering Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Film & Digital Content, Performing Arts and Art & Media. It’s an education where cross-disciplinary collaboration isn’t the exception, it’s the everyday. Where groundbreaking ideas aren’t just be embraced, they’re expected. And where creating transformational content is king. We offer degree programs developed in conjunction with industry leaders, taught by working professionals and operated from an active production studio. Relativity School is a training ground for talent. A prep-school for Hollywood success. And a workout room for the red carpet. For those with the passion and perseverance, it’s a real world opportunity in the unreal world of Hollywood.

Our Mission

To shape the entertainment professionals of tomorrow by fostering an educational experience rooted in collaboration and innovation. We seek to inspire students to excellence in a project-oriented learning environment designed to unleash the imagination and bring creative ideas to fruition under the mentorship of industry professionals. At the crossroads of art and commerce, we wish to train our students to think like entrepreneurs. We challenge them to embrace the rapidly changing technological landscape that shapes the future of entertainment. We ask them to think critically, solve problems, and deliver their ideas to the world with integrity using available social and digital platforms. We rejoice in freedom of thought while nurturing the confidence required in expressing those thoughts.

About the film program:

Department of Radio, Television & FilmThe Department of Radio, Television, and Film at Rowan University is composed of 19 faculty and staff and over 400 undergraduate majors engaged in the production and critical studies of television and film. The Bachelor of Arts program in Radio, Television and Film combines 60 credit hours of a broad general education with 61 credit hours of required, related and free electives that each student can shape toward their individual educational goals within the major.

The Production emphasis blends practical, hands-on learning with a firm grounding in the aesthetics, history and craft of media production. Students in the Department of Radio, Television and Film engage, learn and achieve. Rowan productions have won over 100 local, regional, and national awards since 2004.

About the Film Program:

Mason Gross School of the Arts is an intimate community of artists within Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Our central location in New Brunswick, New Jersey, affords students easy access to-and participation in- New York City’s dynamic cultural life.

The filmmaking program is designed to establish marketable skills in the emerging field of digital communication in concert with a wide array of liberal arts electives. Our goal is to create technically astute filmmakers who are intellectually informed artists. Students are trained in all aspects of their craft in both fiction and documentary production by working with professional filmmakers who have a track record of producing award-winning films that are recognized around the globe.

About the film program:

The Film School

This is a brief video on requirements for your Film School Portfolio for admission into Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

Santa Fe University of Art and Design has reimagined everything that a film school can be. And infused it with purpose, relevance, and a little magic. The Film School at SFUAD aims to lead our graduates into sustainable and rewarding careers making films with passion and excellence.

If you want to become a versatile filmmaker who is prepared for a variety of roles within a rapidly changing industry, the Film School at SFUAD is for you. Our re-envisioned curriculum is more relevant than ever to the contemporary film business. Our new BFA in Film degree offers three concentrations—Production, Visual Effects/Technical Animation, and Story Development—that allow you to study intensively within your area of greatest interest.

About the film program:

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor’s and master’s degrees at distinctive locations and online to prepare talented students for professional careers. SCAD offers degrees in more than 40 majors. Visit the official SCAD blog at scad.edu/blog orscad.edu.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

St. John’s University, through its College of Professional Studies, offers a two- year, 60-credit track leading to the Associate of Science degree and a four-year, 126 credit program leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Film & Television. Both programs offer students considerable flexibility and thorough preparation for a career in the television, film, advertising, TV journalism, media graphics, and new media production industries. Students can take courses in production, media writing, industry organization and procedures, history and aesthetics of film and television. They also receive a solid foundation in liberal arts, business, management and marketing of these two industries. When it comes to an entertainment-focused career, New York City is an important center of the dynamic growth for all media and St. John’s University's students are right in the heart of the action with internship opportunities and some of best professionals in the business!

DO WHAT YOU LOVE FOR LIFE.

You’re already an independent filmmaker. Why should you go to SVA*NYC?

SVA Film is the most hands-on BFA program in New York City. Whether you specialize in Directing, Screenwriting, Cinematography, Editing or Sound, you are immersed in filmmaking – and your work reflects that. We are an undergraduate program with a graduate attitude.

Your teachers and classmates are your partners in creativity. All of our instructors do what they teach. The relationships you form with your mentors mean you are already connected to the working world.

The School of Visual Arts is the only hands-on BFA in New York City, where your professors are all working professionals sharing what they love.

The School of Visual Arts is the country’s largest independent art school. You’re in an atmosphere with a rich tradition of innovation and originality, surrounded by the best image-makers in media. NYC is the art and idea capital of the world.

AT SVA Film, “independent” is not just a trendy pre-fix for “filmmaker. “ It’s the creative DNA that makes SVA artists different. It means having a personal vision and having choices in your career. We’re not just about getting a job, but having a life – doing what you love.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

In the heart of the fourth-largest media market, the Temple University School of Media and Communication is one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. It is considered the Philadelphia region’s leading provider of media employees. The School now enrolls 2,800 undergraduate students and employs 60 full-time faculty members. Here at SMC, academic and artistic exchanges occur between and among a wide variety of disciplines including Advertising, Communication Studies, Journalism, Media Studies and Production and Strategic Communication/Public Relations.

ABOUT THE FILM PROGRAM:

The University of Advancing Technology is the technophile's college experience—a community uniquely suited to provide students passionate about technology an ideal place to live and grow. UAT is a private and family-owned University that merges the values of the traditional academy with the modern technology campus, a fusion that enhances our ability to fulfill the mission of educating students in the fields of advancing technology who innovate for our future.

About the Film Program:

UCLA's Department of Film, Television and Digital Media empowers the creative innovators of tomorrow by training them in all aspects of the arts and crafts of the moving image, from the aesthetic to the technological. Scholarly work in the areas of history, criticism and theory provide a conceptual underpinning for our world class professional training courses and an educational response to the opportunities that emerging technologies offer. The Department of Film, Television and Digital Media, a premiere interdisciplinary program, develops outstanding humanistic storytellers, industry leaders and scholars whose diverse, innovative voices enlighten, engage, and inspire change for a better world.

Students pursue the Bachelor of Fine Arts in filmmaking. The first two years of the curriculum stress fundamentals of the filmmaking process and visual storytelling. Students are required to become familiar with every aspect of creating, developing, making, finishing and exhibiting their cinematic work. During the third and fourth years, students train within disciplines in a mentor/student relationship with professional faculty, staff and guest artists. Only students who are successful in meeting the rigorous requirements of conservatory training in the first two years are invited to continue into the advanced levels of the program.

Students write, direct, photograph, edit, design and produce a variety of film and digital video exercises, short film and digital video productions, and numerous school-sponsored productions during their four-year course of study. All creative works are prepared at a professional conservatory level, and shown in our state-of-the-art theatres.

The program at the School of Filmmaking is intense, and requires the complete attention of the would-be filmmaker. Students participate in lectures, workshops, screenings, production meetings, story conferences, crew assignments, principal photography in studio and on location, post-production, and professional internships.

About the Film Program:

The BFA and Certificate programs of the Film School offer students a chance to learn about both the aesthetics and practices of filmmaking. First, by exploring film as an art form, students learn to “see” the physical and metaphysical world, and then find ways to conceptualize and represent it. Through the mastering of the basic techniques of writing, producing, shooting, directing and editing, students learn how to make narrative films. The intention, ultimately, is to help students find their unique voices and learn how to tell the stories that move, captivate, and inspire them.

While we embrace the idea of film as an art, it is also a business, and students need to learn what makes for a successful film career and how to achieve the profitable exhibition of one’s work. Time is spent understanding the various aspects of development, financing and promotion.

While the general paradigm for filmmaking is the narrative film, we aim to provide other opportunities for students. It is possible to make documentaries, music videos and web series through independent study of specialized courses.

Exposure to the filmmaking community is an important part of the learning process and we bring visiting artists into the classroom as guests in person and through the internet whenever possible, thereby increasing the students’ exposure to working professionals. Internships are also encouraged as a way to further enhance one’s skills and make contacts in the professional community. A successful graduate of the Film School will know how to create films and how to find the audience for them.